


Lost Connection

by talienfey



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Dark, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-15 22:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1321201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talienfey/pseuds/talienfey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SPOILERS!   SUPER DUPER SPOILERS! I MEAN IT FOR SERIOUS.<br/>The Nonary Game was his life's work, and he had devoted his entire existence to the hidden purpose behind it--accessing the morphogenic fields.  If it had worked, he could finally be free of the disorder that prevented him from having anything resembling a normal life.  When it failed, he began to despair--until he ran into the little girl who gave him one more chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Connection

It was over, he'd failed.  
  
Gentarou Hongou's expression was as volatile as a lit fuse on dynamite as he stomped through the Gigantic's hallways. His thoughts were running circles around themselves, from the things he could have done differently to the ways others had failed him, and back again. But the most compelling thought, that no other could distract him from, was the failure of the Nonary experiment to access the morphogenic fields.  
  
His mouth twisted downwards firmly as he ground his teeth in frustration. It had taken years for him to set this up. Years of playing along with those idiotic cultists in Free the Soul, of studying and plotting and planning for this day. He had hand picked the most promising pairs of siblings through extensive testing under the Cradle Pharmaceuticals name, and from those hundred pairs culled them down to the eighteen most talented. All while carefully designing and testing every puzzle, creating them in duplicate for the Gigantic and its mirror in Building Q, and struggling with his disorder—the motivation for the entire project--in secret.  
  
His eyes narrowed as he thought about his disorder. _Prosopagnosia_. A normal man would have been able to recognize the children from the profile pictures they had compiled, and from the repeated observations at the various Cradle-owned hospitals that held the testing, but to him, they might as well have been clones. No matter how many tricks he'd learned to help cope with his face blindness, he still failed whenever someone changed clothes, did their hair differently, or even made an unusual expression. And children— _damnable_ children—were changing their emotions every half minute as well as showing them openly, plainly, on their faces. It had the same effect to him as if they were disappearing and reappearing in disguise.

Hongou let out a short, disgusted breath as he climbed down a short set of stairs. It was ironic—horribly, horribly ironic—that a major reason the experiment had failed was because a worker had failed to recognize that two of the children they were placing on the Gigantic, as well as two placed on the mirror-image Building Q, were siblings. He could almost laugh, if it wasn't so infuriating. The mistake was identical to the ones he made nearly daily.

There was nothing he could do about it now, however, no matter how roundly he cursed himself and everyone else for the failure. All he could do now was flee in the hidden submarine before the authorities arrived, and hope that some of the data that Building Q had gathered was worthwhile enough to convince his backers to take a second chance. He was fairly certain that he'd be able to escape without getting caught. No large ships had appeared, so it seemed that the person who had taken the children out of the incinerator had come alone on a small boat. But with such a big project, and so many failures even at the most important time, he knew he could not rely on remaining free from suspicion even if he was not found near the sinking ship. He would have to lay low for years before he could begin another project like this.  
  
Pain crossed his face at the idea of waiting. More long years of alienation, of nearly every person being a stranger, and of the constant stress and fear that they were tricking him to laugh behind his back. More years of struggling to focus on recognizing people based on things that they often changed—their hair, their perfume, their accessories and clothing. More years of never truly being able to see a face.  
  
It angered him, it frustrated him, and he felt himself despairing the longer he thought about it.  
  
Hongou let out a deep breath, trying to clear his mind of the overwhelming negativity. He should only think about escape now, not what the future may or may not hold. He still needed to see what Building Q's results were--  
  
\--his thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he turned a corner and a small form slammed into him, knocking the wind out of him. He stumbled and caught himself with one arm against the wall, staring at what had hit him.  
  
It was a child. It was one of the participants, undoubtedly—children didn't just appear on ships in the middle of the ocean. A little girl.

She was staring at him, eyes wide, clutching a doll or toy of some sort, taking deep, heaving breaths. She must have gotten separated from the other children who had escaped with the detective.

And now she was here, in front of him, so close to the place where the final puzzle lay, the one that he had judged most likely to succeed in contacting the morphogenic fields.  
  
A slow smile spread across Hongou's face, and he stepped forward. The girl let out a yelp and stepped backwards, hitting the wall behind her. Her eyes darted from side to side as she looked for an escape route around him.

This—this was an _outrageous_ stroke of good fortune! Everything could change in this moment—everything could be going his way again!  
  
“Are you lost, my dear? Perhaps I can help.” He faked an amiable tone, the smile growing. He began to advance slowly. She was only a few feet away from him, but he knew better than to underestimate a child's speed. _Why couldn't it have been the fat one_? He thought to himself. That seemed to be the only child he could consistently recognize, and also would have been the slowest of the group. Of course, dragging him to the incinerator might have been difficult, whereas this child was a small girl he could easily overpower—if he could catch her first.  
  
He just had to trick her into trusting him for a short moment.  
  
The girl swallowed, her eyes shooting up to him for a moment, then back to either side of him, constantly moving, looking for an opening.  
  
He continued to smile, hoping it appeared friendly. It always felt a bit strange to intentionally make an expression, since it was difficult for him to really see them on others. “Come now, my dear. You want to leave, don't you? I'll help you. Take my hand.”  
  
“N... no!” she stuttered abruptly, bumping into the wall again as she backed up. She was easily within his reach now, and she knew it. Still, her purple eyes flashed up to his defiantly. “I... I know who you are!”  
  
The smile disappeared as he stopped, shocked. He had picked the children by himself, but he'd been very careful that they had never seen him. He had always observed through two way mirrors or security cameras. There was no way she could know who he was.

The children had left with that damn detective without a problem, trusting him instantly. But this girl--she _knew_ him, _knew_ he was not to be trusted.  
  
It was time to act. He lunged forward and grabbed her arm, yanking him to him. She started to scream, pulling as hard as she could, throwing her entire weight away from him and nearly pulling him to the floor. He dragged her back to her feet and began to march towards the final puzzle in the incinerator.  
  
The child began to struggle harder when she realized where they were heading, her screams becoming less ear piercing and more like grunts as her full efforts focused on escaping him. His grip tightened as she began to scratch at the hand clamped around her wrist with her free one. He flinched as she drew blood and raised his arm, pulling her closer to him, and then slapped her.  
  
She stopped struggling completely, stunned. He began to half drag her through incinerator door.

He yanked her upright again and checked her bracelet number--five--then threw her down in front of the final puzzle. She didn't move except to breathe heavily as he dug the extra bracelets out of his pockets. He carefully set them to the appropriate numbers, and tossed them in front of the door.  
  
He walked back over to the girl, who was shakily sitting upright. He pointed to the door.  
  
“Those bracelets are numbered one and three. The RED is deactivated until the puzzle is solved.” He smirked. “You know what to do. If you can solve the final puzzle, you'll escape without a problem. If not, well...”  
  
He paused, smiling again. “You were in here before with that detective, but he won't be coming back for you. You'll have to escape on your own power.” He emphasized the final word, hoping that she would understand on a deeper level, what exactly was expected of her, what he couldn't explicitly state.  
  
He turned to go, only to feel a hand grasping onto his jacket.  
  
“No—please!” the girl begged, tugging on the hem as she struggled to get back to her feet. “I can't-- _please_!”  
  
He kicked her back, annoyed, and continued to the door. He paused at the threshold.  
  
“This is very fair, you know. Just solve it and get out. It's almost too easy, and that's why there's a time limit.” He paused before slamming the door shut. “Good luck to you. I'm expecting great results!”

The loud, decisive CLUNK of the closing door rang out throughout the exterior of the incinerator. Hongou took a moment to straighten his suit jacket and tie, feeling very satisfied with himself.  
  
He'd done it. Against all odds, he'd done it. The true test of his morphogenic theory was going to come to pass. And if it was right—then he could finally, _finally_ \--  
  
He cut off his thoughts before they could get too congratulatory, turning back around to the tiny slit that was the incinerator window.  
  
The girl was dragging herself to her feet, using the puzzle as a support. The alarm to the automatic countdown began, warning that there was only nine minutes left. She looked up upon hearing the noise, slightly dazed, and her eyes refocused and widened as realization sunk in.  
  
She ran to the door equipped with the RED, gathering up the bracelets he'd dropped. Hongou rolled his eyes as she lifted them up and tried desperately to activate it. What a waste of time. He'd told her it wouldn't work. But perhaps that was better, she'd be under even more stress as she tried to solve the puzzle, and more in need of an epiphany, and more able to access the fields.  
  
He watched, feeling bored despite his anxiety, as she tried to open the door for another minute. She finally gave up and ran back to the puzzle. Her back was to him, but he could see her shaking. She hesitantly entered a few things, then put her face in her hands, letting out a loud sob.  
  
“Come on, solve it,” he growled, tapping his foot impatiently. Almost as if she'd heard him, she lifted her head, frantically scrubbing at her tears, and continued to input numbers with a shaking hand. She worked diligently for the next several minutes, only stopping to clear the tears from her face.  
  
He began to get nervous as the countdown reminded them that there was only a minute left. Would she fail, even under this intense pressure, with a sibling working with her through the fields? Was their bond perhaps not strong enough? Or...  
  
He frowned. Could it be that she was one of the children that was together on the boat, rather than separated, from their sibling? He let out a low hiss as he ground his teeth. No, that couldn't happen—not after a surprise chance had brought the child back to him. She HAD to be one who could solve it, who would get her answer through the morphogenic fields. The chances of her being part of that mistake were only two in nine. His luck could not possibly be that bad after giving him a second chance at his life's work.

Thirty seconds left. The numbered countdown began to echo impassively through the chambers. The girl looked up from the puzzle, then spun around in a panic, and ran back to the door with the bracelets. She let out a shriek of frustration as the RED again failed to activate.  
  
 _Five_.  
  
She dropped the bracelets and ran back to the door he stood at, throwing her fists against it as she sobbed.  
  
 _Four_.  
  
She slammed against the door, throwing her entire small body against it. Of course it didn't budge. Had she really expected it to? Hongou's heart pounded— _go back to the puzzle, you HAVE to be able to--_  
  
 _Three_.  
  
She looked up and he could see her face through the tiny slit clearly. Her eyes were racing around in mindless terror, searching for any sign of the door opening, as she pounded on it.  
  
 _Two._  
  
She dropped her fists, and stepped back, her shaking hands raising to her mouth and her eyes widening in horror as she realized she was about to die.  
  
 _One_.  
  
As the last number was listed, she looked up, directly at him.  
  
His eyes met hers, and everything changed.  
  
Time seemed to stop. The flames that had just ignited seemed to freeze in midair as Gentarou Houngou stared into the young girl's eyes. He could not tear his gaze away, and suddenly, he felt knowledge flying through his brain, as though part of it had been blocked and was now accessible.  
  
He _recognized_ her face. He KNEW this child. He could see every detail of her expression, and put it together neatly, tied to a name.

Akane Kurashiki. This child was Akane Kurashiki.

Memories of every time he had seen her rushed through his mind. He saw her sitting nervously at a table in a hospital's plain white lab, guessing the cards that were held up backwards in front of her, making few mistakes in naming them correctly.  
  
He saw her staring at objects spread out on a table, and then picking the one that her brother was holding three rooms away. He saw her smile slightly when the instructor lost his composure a moment and cheered.  
  
He saw her once more, terrified, as she woke up inside the ship, crying out and being answered by a pale haired boy who ran to her side to hold her tightly. He saw them walking through the ship, her hand often laced through his arm and his hand on top of it, reassuring, and he recognized the boy as her sibling, Aoi.  
  
Akane Kurashiki—he KNEW her, he could _recognize_ her, he could see her face—how _wonderful_ that feeling was, how _elating_ —and he knew that it had worked, he'd been RIGHT, the fields had been accessed, he could finally beat this disease with her power--

 

And it all vanished as time suddenly started again. The incinerator roared to life in a split second, and everything that was Akane Kurashiki was gone in an instant.

It felt like his senses had been cut off. He couldn't hear the roaring flames over the sudden emptiness in his mind.

Hongou stepped back from the incinerator door, stunned, feeling weak. He stared down at his hands. They were shaking. A drop of sweat fell from his forehead onto his forearm, and he ran his hand across it, dislodging his fedora. He slowly knelt down to pick it back up. He began to hear the sound of the flames again, and realization slowly began to form in his mind. His hand froze several inches from the hat.  
  
All the knowledge, the abilities, that he'd just had were gone, leaving only an aching, empty space. He strove to find something he could remember of that experience, something to prove that he had been exposed to the morphogenic fields. There was nothing but the memory that something _had_ happened, _had_ worked, and it had been because of that little girl. The one who he had just killed.  
  
He couldn't picture her face anymore. He couldn't picture any faces. He couldn't remember her name.  
  
All he could remember is that he HAD known those things, he'd had that essential ability. And he had lost it all at the moment that young girl had died.  
  
He had unknowingly destroyed his only hope.  
  
He fell to his knees, staring at nothing, overwhelmed by an enormous sense of loss, and regret.  
  
He wasn't sure how long he had sat there, unmoving, unthinking.

Footsteps pounding down the corridor that led to the incineration's preview room brought him back to his senses. He remembered where he was. He stumbled to his feet, grabbing his hat, and ran to the wall beside the door, pressing himself firmly against it as a white haired child ran into the room, an absolute mountain of a man following on his heels.  
  
He dodged behind them and began to run in the opposite direction. That's right. The submarine. He had to get out before the police arrived. He had to... had to...  
  
He nearly fell over as a horrible sound came from behind him. He clapped his hands over his ears. It was an earsplitting wail and scream and moan all at once that shook him to his core. He didn't know who it had come from, but the utter agony in the sound told him that whoever it was, he had killed someone they loved.  
  
Hongou gathered himself and began to run towards the submarine dock again.

He didn't let himself think as he stumbled into the submarine, wouldn't focus on anything but getting out until it launched into the ocean. He let out a deep breathe as it began to propel itself along, hidden from those who would want to find him and punish him for his crimes. He was safe.  
  
He sank his face into his hands, finally, pushing his fedora back.  
  
He would never find another girl like her. He knew that, he believed it stronger than anything he had ever thought before. There was only one girl in the entire world like the one who had exploded into his mind and shown him the universe.

And he had killed her.  
  
The screaming sobs of the young boy echoed in his mind as he sped away from the sinking ship.  
  
“I feel the same way, kid,” he muttered to himself, a lone man in a small submarine under the crushing cold of the ocean. He pulled his hands down over his face, staring up at nothing in the sub's ceiling. “I feel very much the same way.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Sey (drkurashiki on tumblr) who is a super awesome person <3 Thanks to peejteej for doing a quick beta for me, and to every person who takes the time to read my fanworks because you are cool people with cool fandoms. :)
> 
> As for the story itself, I wanted to write something to show a bit more of a relationship between Ace (I'll always call him that in my head!) and Akane than "random child he just so happened to stumble across and kind of murder oops." Since she's such a powerful esper, I thought it was likely that Junpei wasn't the only person who would have been effected by her tuning into the fields, and I wanted to tell a story where it effects Ace, too, in a worldline before she was saved by that access. My memory of how the incinerator actually looked is a tad fuzzy so I hope that wasn't too distracting.
> 
> In case it was confusing at all, I imagined he'd only have the knowledge and understanding that she did, as well as the ability to recognize faces/overcome prosopagnosia, while Akane was still alive, and that it would all vanish once she died/the morphogenic connection was severed.
> 
> SO YEAH, I hope you liked it and if not oh well, gonna have to try harder next time! :D
> 
> I should uh, really write something that's NOT dark at some point...


End file.
